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We had a nice turnout tonight with seven of us in total on the mats, and a good time was had by all. It got quite lighthearted early on while we were doing Bokken practice, ever since Sensei lined us all up to each shomenuchi and kiai as loud as we could because he was disatisfied with what he was hearing earlier. Well, when it got to one of the new students, he let out a loud kiai that sounded like he was yelling, "YIP!" and Dave (thinking that it was Sempai Jim) burst out laughing, which set me off too.

Afterwards, we continued to train, and from the corner we heard Jim let out a "Yee haw!" as a kiai, which made us chuckle, and to which Sensei said, "I don't care what kind of sound you make, as long as it's a loud one."

At this point, not wanting to be outdone, I followed suit and as I attacked Sempai Garry, let out a loud and drawn out impersonation of Garry's trademark kiai --- "EEEEEEEP!", which sent both him and Dave roaring. "Hey, imitation's the sincerest form of flattery, Garry." I said, laughing. I guess we were all in a silly mood.

After Bokken practice we didn't do Tae Sebaki, but had a regular-style class instead --- possibly because we had a couple walk-in who wanted to watch the class as we were about to get into the second part of the night. We started off with:

Shomenuchi Ikkyo (Suwari Waza)
- don't forget to cup uke's elbow all the way around and
- don't twist hand at wrist but just grasp around wrist on this one

and did some

Shomenuchi Iriminage
- don't forget block upon entering for 5th kyu testing
- use drop of whole body/centre to bring uke down, be stable in an even horse-riding stance/squat
- also pay attention to the ukemi on this one --- as uke, swing outside leg around for faster movement

I have to make a mental note to tell Garry not to be ashamed of his kiai --- we were watching a video I downloaded recently, and there was footage of O Sensei doing some Bokken practice...his kiais sounded just like Garry's infamous "EEEEP"s.